


Burn

by Shinybug



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Aphrodisiacs, Explicit Sexual Content, First Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-25
Updated: 2012-01-25
Packaged: 2017-10-30 02:43:44
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/326887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shinybug/pseuds/Shinybug
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin had not taken into account the possibility of aphrodisiacs and Arthur's proclivity for being poisoned.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Burn

*~*~*~*

Merlin had not imagined his evening going quite this way. Well, to be fair, he may have fantasized about it once or twice or fifty times, or at least some version of this, but not _this exactly._ And he certainly hadn't actually expected to ever see this side of Arthur with his own two eyes; however active Merlin's fantasy life was behind the closed doors of his own room, he was sadly pragmatic when it came to matters surrounding the crown prince of Camelot.

Arthur was an utter prat and the best swordsman in the kingdom and arrogantly beautiful and totally, completely, irrevocably off limits.

Except.

Merlin had not taken into account the possibility of aphrodisiacs and Arthur's proclivity for being poisoned.

Which was why Merlin was now flirting with the idea that he might have finally lost his mind and begun hallucinating some lovely, wicked scenario in his own head, because he had only just now gotten an inkling of why Arthur was leaning so heavily against him as they staggered into Arthur's rooms, his skin flushed and breath coming too quickly, Arthur's hands fisted in Merlin's clothing in a way not necessarily best designed to keep one's balance.

"Sire," Merlin said, trying for calm and dignity and therefore actually addressing Arthur properly for once, "how are you feeling now?"

Arthur made a noise between his teeth and sort of _twisted_ his body against Merlin's, making it very difficult for Merlin to maneuver him toward the bed. "I am decidedly unwell, Merlin," Arthur replied in a growl, and Merlin heard the ' _idiot_ ,' unspoken there, as it hardly needed to be anymore.

"Gaius is working on it, sire. Though I still think we should have gone down there instead of coming up here. What if you take a turn for the worse, or...something? It takes Gaius some time to get up the stairs, you know."

"No," Arthur bit out, a look of hardened resignation on his flushed face. Merlin watched a drop of sweat trickle down his temple and tried very, very hard not to want to catch it with his tongue. "I won't have anyone else seeing me like this."

"But we don't even know what ' _this_ ' is yet," Merlin protested, propping Arthur up against a bedpost and attempting to catch his breath. Arthur wasn't really that big, relatively speaking when one considered Sir Bors, for example, but he had lots of muscle mass, which was considerably daunting and made Merlin's heart pound with more than just exertion.

Arthur slouched against the bedpost and gave Merlin a slow-blinking look from under his lashes, angry and frustrated and something _else_ , and said, "We know what it is. We just don't know what to do about it."

Merlin shifted uncomfortably, looking down at Arthur's hand still wrapped in the fabric of Merlin's tunic, probably causing irreparable damage to the fibers, and thought that by now he had a pretty good idea of what to do about it, and maybe Arthur did too, but whether or not it was the _best_ idea was another question entirely.

Then Arthur groaned, a deeply affecting sound that seemed to begin in Arthur's feet and vibrate up through his thighs and stomach and out his throat, and he doubled over slowly, panting harshly as he pressed his face against Merlin's sternum and shook, and Merlin couldn't see where Arthur's other hand was but he had a fair guess that it was gripping somewhere below Arthur's waist.

Merlin swallowed hard and stared up at the ceiling, thinking about mucking out the stables and Arthur's grotty underwear and Gaius naked and every other truly disgusting thing he could imagine. "I could get one of the serving girls...I know most of them would be lining up outside the door if they knew..."

Arthur huffed out what might have been a laugh against Merlin's collarbone as he climbed up Merlin's body with his face. "I wouldn't touch any of them if my life depended on it," he gritted derisively into Merlin's neck.

"Oh, come on, they're not all that bad," Merlin said defensively, voice cracking a bit, realizing belatedly that his own hands had betrayed him at some point and had come up to steady Arthur's head by threading his fingers through Arthur's cornsilk hair.

Arthur snorted. "It's not about standards, Merlin," he said, sounding aggrieved as he rested his forehead on Merlin's shoulder. His body was nearly flush with Merlin's now, and Merlin could feel the almost unnatural heat radiating from Arthur's skin and thought it was a wonder his clothes hadn't combusted.

"I don't understand," Merlin said, wrestling with the idea of pushing Arthur away from him or drawing him even closer.

"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest," Arthur replied tightly, and licked a stripe up Merlin's neck, ending with a bite behind Merlin's ear.

Merlin had to trust that his knees were still there because he could no longer feel them, and now it was he who was gripping Arthur for balance, both of them using the bedpost to stay upright, and Merlin could now feel Arthur's hand cupping his own groin because the backs of his knuckles were pressed against Merlin's cock and Merlin couldn't help but grind into them once, sharply.

"I'm sorry," Arthur was saying, still biting Merlin's neck, still clutching Merlin with one hand at Merlin's hip, sounding so miserable and desperate that Merlin ached for him. "I'm sorry, maybe you should go, I don't think I know what I'm doing anymore--it _burns_ , Merlin--"

And Merlin thought that maybe he really should go, after all, if Arthur wasn't sure of what he wanted, and then immediately decided that idea was utter crap, because of course Arthur needed him and he'd be out of his mind to leave now, and then there was a knock on the door.

Arthur jerked back as if struck, blinking dazedly and so _beautiful_ that Merlin made an executive decision and shoved Arthur backwards without warning. Arthur landed in a sprawl in the center of his bed and Merlin jerked the bed curtains closed around him so that no one else would see Arthur like that, because after all, wasn't that what Arthur had said he wanted in the first place?

He heard no actual protest from Arthur but the harsh panting of his breath followed Merlin all the way to the door where Merlin asked, "Who is it?" and was very proud of how steady his voice sounded.

"It's Gaius," said Gaius, sounding exasperated or possibly just out of breath from traversing the stairs.

Merlin opened the door a crack and put an eyeball to the gap.

"Well, can I come in?" Gaius asked.

"No," Merlin said, hoping he sounded reasonable.

Gaius let out a long-suffering breath. "Fine. You may tell the prince that he is not going to die of anything except perhaps embarrassment, if he is so inclined in that direction. The poison was merely a collection of usually harmless herbs and ingredients, entirely non-magical, that when combined create a rather powerful suggestive agent."

Merlin stared at him, trying not to let his attention wander back to what was going on behind the closed bed curtains, but he could hear with startling clarity the rustling of fabric and the hitching of Arthur's breath. "Suggestive agent."

"An aphrodisiac," Gaius elaborated, looking as though he wished he hadn't needed to.

"Right. We sort of...already guessed that," Merlin said with a bright, innocent smile.

"It should wear off by morning, I think," Gaius offered helpfully, "once it has run its course through the prince's body. I believe any antidote I might be able to concoct would take nearly that long to brew anyway. Until then, though, you might want to stand guard."

"Against what?" Merlin asked, failing to imagine what might try to attack Arthur at this time of night, inside the castle.

Gaius looked like he was trying not to raise his eyebrow. "Against whoever slipped him the potion in the first place, I should think. They will likely try to make an appearance at some point to take advantage of Arthur's suggestive state."

Merlin's mind conjured for him images of Lord Bennet’s five visiting daughters, each one eligible and more simpering than the next, each one fixing Arthur with vaguely predatory and lascivious gazes over the roast squab at supper. "Oh. Of course. Well...could you set someone on sentry duty at the end of the hall, then?"

"You don't want to do it yourself?"

Merlin gripped the door frame especially hard at the sound of Arthur's muffled groan behind him. It sounded as though Arthur was biting a pillow. "I think I should stay with Arthur. Make sure he's, ah...alright. Not suffering overmuch."

Gaius closed his eyes briefly, looking for all the world as though he'd rather be in some other castle entirely, in some other kingdom. "Just be sure, Merlin, that you aren't taking advantage of the situation in a way that might damage your friendship in the morning. I know what he means to you."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Merlin, you couldn't be more obvious if you went about wearing Arthur's underwear on your head. Just be careful, please."

Merlin had the good grace to blush. "I promise. I was wondering though, do you have anything for, um, stamina? Some kind of elixir maybe?"

"I shouldn't think he'd need any," Gaius said, sounding somewhat scandalized. "The aphrodisiac will likely remain potent for several hours, whether he wants it to or not."

"Well. It wouldn't be for him." Merlin cast a glance over his shoulder at the gently swaying bed curtains.

Gaius finally gave him The Eyebrow, which he'd obviously been suppressing for some time. "Try imagining really horrible things," Gaius intoned, clearly unimpressed.

"Yeah, thanks," Merlin said. "Oh, and don't tell anyone about this, at least not any more than you have to. Arthur doesn't want the whole castle knowing."

"I will inform the king that all will be well and simply tell the guard not to admit anyone to the room, and to detain anyone who seems overly eager to get inside. They needn't know why."

"Perfect," Merlin said, and shut the door in Gaius' face in a manner that was probably quite rude, and he would likely want to apologize later, but right now all he could hear were Arthur's small noises of frustration and pleasure, indistinct and glorious.

Merlin detoured by the table and had a fortifying swig of wine straight from the jar on the way to the bed, and then after taking a deep breath pulled back the curtain to reveal Arthur, writhing and half-clothed, his hand wrapped around his red, leaking cock, looking like he might kill or die any moment now in order to get some relief.

"Alright, first," Merlin stated, and his voice cracked again, "I want you to tell me truly--and think hard about it, so that you won't get angry at me later--if you want me to stay or go or send someone else to take care of you. I'll give you whatever you need."

Arthur panted up at him, his hips stuttering into his fist, his eyes burning blue fire but oddly, incongruously vulnerable. "Merlin. If you don't want to be here, you can go. But if you go, don't send anyone else. I don't want anyone else to see me like this."

"So is this just a trust thing? Like, you don't trust anyone else to know you could be so easily brought low by a sex potion?"

"You are the worst, most insufferably obnoxious--" Arthur spat out, unclenching one hand from the bedsheets and reaching out to grab Merlin by the tunic again. "I only want you, Merlin. I just want _you_."

"Oh," Merlin replied with an unsteady grin, certain that when he had the time later to process all this that Arthur's declaration would hold some deeper meaning for him. "Good. I really don't want to leave."

Arthur's sigh was heartfelt. "Then what are you waiting for?"

Merlin shucked his clothes faster than he could remember ever having done before. He climbed up on the bed beside Arthur, drinking in the sight of rucked up clothing, flushed skin and taut muscles, the smell of musk strong in the air. He tugged the bed curtain closed behind him, creating a small, safe haven for just the two of them, intimate and dark with the firelight leaking through the cracks in the curtains like little trickles of sun across Arthur's skin.

"What does it feel like?" Merlin asked, putting one tentative hand on Arthur's thigh, feeling the heat bleeding through his trousers.

"Like, _ah_...fire, like a storm building. The way the sky crackles before the lightning. Please, Merlin..."

Merlin blinked, unprepared for Arthur's eloquence, for the way he seemed suddenly laid bare before Merlin, no longer the prince but just _Arthur_ , and Merlin had a sudden fleeting grasp of why Arthur had wanted to hide this from everyone else. This was not something you showed anyone but your closest fellows, your most trusted friends.

"What do you want?" Merlin asked, hushed and humbled.

Arthur moaned and writhed his hips. "Your mouth. Please."

"You don't have to say 'please,'" Merlin mumbled, bracing his hands on either side of Arthur's hips and leaning down. "I'd do it anyway."

Arthur gave a weak shout when Merlin's lips closed over the head of his cock, and he seemed unable to move his own hand away from the grip he had on the shaft of it. Arthur tasted sharp and strong, like sea salt, like brine. Merlin slid his mouth down until his lips rested on Arthur's thumb and forefinger, and he swirled his tongue around cock and fingers together, feeling Arthur pulse and shudder. Merlin gently peeled Arthur's hand away and guided it to rest on the bed beside him, and Arthur slid his fingers through Merlin's and held on tightly. When Arthur's hips bucked up involuntarily Merlin relaxed his throat and let him thrust deep for a minute until it became too much, and then he held Arthur's hips still and began to suckle.

It didn't take long, Arthur having ridden the sharp edge of desire ever since he'd looked up at Merlin from across the banquet hall with a strange expression on his face and his hand gripping a goblet as though it had betrayed him. Merlin thumbed Arthur's balls and bit ever so gently under the head of Arthur's cock and then Arthur was flooding his mouth with hot, bitter come and groaning like a dying man.

Merlin sat up and discreetly wiped his lips with the back of his hand, swallowing around the burning in his throat. Arthur's limbs were sprawled out all over the bed and his eyelashes were like gold fans casting shadows on his cheeks. Unsure of what would happen next, Merlin waited quietly for Arthur to rouse, wondering if the aphrodisiac had run its course already.

After a few minutes Arthur opened his eyes and blinked at Merlin, who had to lean slightly forward to read the expression in them in the dark. "Thank you," Arthur whispered.

Merlin nodded, surprised and touched, as he could count on one hand with fingers left over the number of times Arthur had thanked him for anything. "Is it...over?"

Arthur shook his head slowly. "I don't think so. I can still feel it, like standing too close to a fire."

"Is it awful?"

"Awful...no." Arthur tipped his head back, stretching a little, and Merlin was envious of how comfortable he seemed in his own skin even now. "It's the loss of control I don't like, being drugged against my will. The rest is, well." His gaze fell down Merlin's body to rest on Merlin's naked thighs. "I think it's better with you here than it would be otherwise."

Merlin squirmed a little, wondering if truth-telling was a side effect to the 'suggestive agent.' "You know me, sire," he quipped ironically, "I live to serve you."

Arthur laughed, his body shaking the bed and sending little vibrations up through Merlin's knees, reminding him of his own unattended desire. Arthur seemed to notice it at the same time, swallowing his laughter suddenly and raising his eyes to Merlin's. "Do you need to...?"

Merlin shrugged. "Eventually. If I'm to keep up with you I'll have to pace myself."

"It would have been more convenient if you'd had some of the potion as well," Arthur said, frowning a bit.

"Trust me, I doubt it would have made much difference," Merlin admitted, feeling free to share here in the darkness behind the bed curtains, with Arthur in an honest mood himself. Being practical, Merlin understood that everything would be different between them in the morning already, and therefore he didn't have much to lose. "I wouldn't have needed it with you; I walk around most days wanting this anyway."

Arthur's eyes widened briefly and he bit at his lower lip, which made Merlin want to soothe the little marks with his tongue. "I know you do. I see you watching me sometimes."

"Sorry," Merlin said, ducking his head a little in embarrassment.

"No," Arthur said shortly, and Merlin could almost see Arthur's blood starting to run hot again beneath the surface of his skin, could see his eyes light up with unnatural sparks.

"Oh," Merlin whispered. "Do you like it when I watch you?"

"Yes."

Merlin liked this honest Arthur. He liked him a lot.

Arthur sat up unsteadily, biting his lip again. "Help me with this," he ordered, tugging limply at his disheveled clothing, and Merlin pulled the tunic over his head and Arthur lifted his hips for Merlin to pull his trousers off. Then he was up on his knees between Merlin's spread thighs, shaking with obviously increasing desire as the aphrodisiac burned through his veins. He took Merlin's face in his hands, and Merlin shivered at the feel of Arthur's sword-callused palms rough on his cheeks.

"When you watch me, do you think about kissing me?" Arthur asked, his breath hot on Merlin's mouth.

Merlin nodded, swaying into Arthur's arms.

"Show me how you’ve wanted to kiss me," Arthur ordered, and Merlin leaned forward and took Arthur's mouth hard, remembering all the times he'd been angry or frustrated and just wanted to kiss Arthur until he could press some sense into Arthur's skin through his own. He'd always wondered what Arthur would do if he kissed him like that, bold and searing and persuasive, whether Arthur would insist on turning the kiss around until he could properly dominate Merlin, or whether he'd hear all the unspoken warnings and entreaties in Merlin's kiss and just melt, and _listen_.

It was the latter, apparently, Merlin realized in triumph as Arthur groaned and opened his mouth for Merlin like some kind of night-blooming flower, tugging Merlin closer and letting Merlin kiss however he wanted, tongue and teeth and lips and Merlin's hands on Arthur's waist.

Arthur panted against Merlin's neck when he finally pulled away for breath, clutching at Merlin's shoulders hard enough to leave bruises. "Gods," Arthur gasped, setting his teeth briefly into Merlin's skin. "Why didn't you kiss me ages ago? We could have been doing this the whole time."

Merlin grinned at the ceiling, feeling on top of the world. "I wasn't all that sure of my welcome, and it didn't seem worth the risk."

"It was worth the risk, trust me," Arthur said seriously, pulling back to look at him. "And didn't you notice me watching you back?"

"Really? You were?" Merlin said, his voice cracking slightly.

Arthur rolled his eyes even as he rutted a bit, perhaps unconsciously, against Merlin's thigh. "Honestly, Merlin, I don't know how you haven't managed to wander accidentally into the moat and drown yourself, for all that you don't notice the obvious things around you."

Merlin huffed out a laugh and shoved, sending Arthur onto his back amongst the pillows, his eyes startled wide when Merlin clambered up over him, tugging close and rolling. When they came to rest Arthur was stretched out over Merlin's entire length, tucked neatly between Merlin's spread legs like a cradle. The look Arthur gave him was feral and overjoyed at once, and Merlin let himself be pinned to the bed and kissed until he was gasping for breath, let Arthur find a stuttering rhythm against Merlin's hip, sweat easing the friction between them.

Arthur's skin was like a furnace, like hearth stones that held jealously onto their heat in the dead of winter. Merlin slid his hands down Arthur's ribs, the hollows of his flanks as he thrust, focusing on the incongruous sensation of marble-smooth skin and an unfamiliar constellation of puckered scars. Merlin counted arrow wounds while Arthur groaned out his pleasure into Merlin's throat, shuddering to a halt above him, wetness spreading between them as Merlin talked himself back from the edge.

Arthur rested, boneless, breathing evening out from ragged to smooth against Merlin's neck, and after a few minutes Merlin tentatively wrapped his arms around Arthur's shoulders and held on. He hadn't suspected Arthur of being one who cuddled under any circumstances, but he wisely chose not to remark on it and simply enjoyed the heavy weight on his limbs, the inexorable gravity that was Arthur.

"I'm crushing you," Arthur murmured, and Merlin shivered to feel Arthur's lips moving against the shell of his ear.

"Nope," Merlin whispered back, tightening his arms, although he was beginning to see gray sparks at the edge of his vision for lack of a full breath.

Arthur laughed weakly and pushed up with shaky arms to fall over to one side of Merlin, who clung like a limpet as they shifted.

"I'm not going anywhere, Merlin," Arthur said, giving him a remarkably indulgent look. "I don't think I could even if I wanted to right now."

Merlin felt his cheeks heat up and he untangled his limbs from Arthur's without a word, feeling foolish. He was surprised when, a few moments later, Arthur laid his hand across Merlin's stomach, resting low, rising and falling with Merlin's quickened breaths.

"I hadn't expected such...fortitude from you," Arthur commented, lazily propping his head up in his other hand. His fingers shifted slightly, carding through the dark, crisp hairs above Merlin's groin. "Either you're really not that interested, or you're blessed with the patience of a martyred saint."

Merlin caught his breath, hips lifting into the touch involuntarily. "Well, I have suffered mightily under your employ for some time, my lord," he admitted, and then realized his statement could easily explain either option. "I'm used to wanting without having. It's become almost enjoyable in itself," he clarified on a moan when Arthur's fingertips slid through his own cooling seed, gathering moisture.

"Has it?" Arthur sounded amused, and Merlin opened his eyes to see Arthur leaning over him, watching with such concentration, such intensity that Merlin felt his heartbeat begin to thrum in his ears. Arthur held his gaze even as he wrapped his hand around Merlin's cock, fingers slick with semen as he began to stroke, heavy, sure motions that spoke of supreme confidence the way that all of Arthur's actions seemed to.

Merlin gasped, seeing stars in the darkness around Arthur's face, and his hand twitched once on the bedclothes before he reached up and grasped Arthur by the neck, tugging him down into a deep kiss. Arthur's tongue stroked his in a counterpoint to Arthur's hand, and Merlin felt his blood tugged gently in one direction and then another, from the tidal forces in Arthur's kiss.

"No," Merlin gasped unconvincingly. "No, I want to wait, I need to..."

"I don't care," Arthur said into his mouth, fisting his cock harder, twisting on the upstroke. "You're all bound up like a prisoner. I need you _loose_."

White heat slammed through Merlin's veins, rushing to converge in his cock at Arthur's words, and he came with silent convulsions while Arthur swallowed his breath and pulled him through the other side with sure fingers.

He shook uncontrollably, feeling a flood rushing out of him, a weight of something held back too long now dissipating. Arthur waited until Merlin had opened his eyes again, then idly thumbed Merlin's nipple with wet fingers, his eyes crinkling in a smile when Merlin twitched.

"Better?" Arthur asked, and Merlin felt pinned like a moth under his gaze.

Merlin nodded, not trusting his voice. Arthur's hand slid downward again and Merlin lay still, noting Arthur's suddenly bitten lip, his subtle hesitance. He moved slick fingers down Merlin's balls, and Merlin's thighs fell open automatically like window shutters pushed wide as he arched into the touch, guessing before Arthur got there what he was intending.

"Is this...?" Arthur asked, fingers slipping over the pucker of Merlin's ass.

"Yes, yes," Merlin chanted breathlessly, feeling just as flushed as Arthur looked, exposed utterly.

Arthur's two fingers breached him with almost embarrassing ease, and Merlin felt his body relax into the sensation far faster than it ever had for his own fingers. He grunted and lifted his hips into it, shoving down against Arthur's hand in such a way that made Arthur's nostrils flare on a shaky indrawn breath, made his eyes go hard with triumph.

"I was going to take more time with you," Arthur said, his voice rough and low, "but I don't think you need it now."

Merlin shook his head, panting, feeling his blood thrum and his inner muscles spasm around Arthur's fingers. "I'm good, really."

Arthur's eyes narrowed and he twisted his fingers, slipping them out and then adding a third unexpectedly, making Merlin arch and moan. "Do you do this to yourself after I send you away for the night? Do you hide in your room and slick your fingers and open yourself up, thinking of me?"

" _Arthur_ ," Merlin cried out, reaching for any part of Arthur his fingers could touch, trying to snag and pull.

Arthur twisted his wrist again, scissoring his fingers almost cruelly. "Do you?"

"Yes," Merlin hissed, throwing his head back against the pillow, thighs shaking, "damn you, yes. I always think of you."

"Good," Arthur replied, withdrawing his hand and pulling Merlin's legs up over his shoulders, opening him wide. "Good," he said again, softer, catching Merlin's gaze as he positioned his cock and slid inside, hard and deep as though he had instinctively known just how much Merlin could take without pain and intended to toe that line with religious fervor.

For a long minute Merlin couldn't draw breath, could only lie there pinned and frozen and breached with his eyes locked on Arthur's. The look on Arthur's face was one that Merlin had only glimpsed before when Arthur thought no one else was watching; simple pleasure, raw and stripped down, happy and savage. It was a sliver of Arthur usually buried beneath the veneer of chivalry, of civility, of the prince Arthur thought he was supposed to be.

Merlin recognized in that moment the part of Arthur he'd fallen in love with so long ago-- _this_ was the Arthur he obeyed, the one he trusted with his life and had sworn to protect. _This_ was the Arthur who would be the greatest king the world had known, this simple man who could love like a wildfire, fiercely and without reservation, though few people were close enough to Arthur to know that yet.

"Arthur, I--" Merlin began, holding onto Arthur's forearms like he might fly away any moment.

Arthur pressed his hand over Merlin's mouth just long enough to stop his words, and shoved his hips forward, a tease. "Not yet. Not right now."

Merlin nodded, but wondered how Arthur had been so apparently sure of what Merlin was trying to say, when Merlin hadn't a clue himself. He hummed when Arthur leaned forward to kiss him, folded nearly in half and stretched beyond comfort, but remarkably happy regardless. Arthur began to move, a short, choppy rhythm that wasn't intended to last and had Merlin clawing at Arthur's skin with work-ragged nails, leaving livid furrows down his muscled arms where they were braced beside Merlin's ribs.

"Is this what you imagined?" Arthur asked, eyes half-lidded and mouth swollen red, his skin burning against Merlin's like a furnace.

"Is this what _you_ imagined?" Merlin countered, rocking back into the thrusts and gently tightening his inner muscles, grinning as Arthur's motions stuttered and his arms began to shake while they braced him up.

"Yes," Arthur whispered. "I imagined this. I wanted _this_." He reached down between them and took Merlin's cock in his hand, gripping firmly but not stroking.

Merlin ran his thumb across Arthur's lips, wet and warm, slipped inside to nudge his teeth and his tongue, and Arthur came abruptly in a rush of searing heat that Merlin felt deeply inside him like a wash of sunlight. Arthur groaned and bit down, and the pad of Merlin's thumb would bear crooked teeth marks for days afterward, and then his arms gave out and he tumbled, rolling Merlin with him.

It was a strange sensation, Arthur's cock slipping free of Merlin, and left him pleasantly hollow and aching. His own cock was still half-hard and he hadn't come, but then he hadn't wanted to, not really. He had a feeling the night wasn't over, despite the fact that Arthur had sprawled bonelessly across the bed, apparently satiated for the moment.

Merlin stumbled from the bed, his awkward limbs protesting after being stretched this way and that. Arthur made a rough, questioning sound and Merlin smiled crookedly over his shoulder while he fetched a bowl of water and a cloth. He washed himself carefully, aware of Arthur's eyes on him and feeling his cheeks flush with embarrassment and a strange happiness when he looked up to see the expression on Arthur's face. It was a fond look, an honest, gentle look that said, _get back over here, you're too far away_ , though Merlin doubted Arthur would have said such a thing aloud.

He brought back a fresh cloth and washed Arthur with open enjoyment, amazed to see his cock harden to half-mast again so soon. Arthur rolled his eyes and waved his hands away, giving him a half-grin.

"Despite what it seems to be telling you, I just came three times in the span of what I guess to be less than an hour. I need a break."

Merlin eyed him mischievously. "Surely not, sire. You’re so easily winded? I've seen you fight on the field for hours without rest."

Arthur arched an eyebrow at him, looking like a lazy tomcat in a sunbeam. "I can still beat you, you know. Put you in the stocks for hours. Make you scrub the floors."

"I doubt you could move right now if your life depended on it," Merlin said, smiling smugly, and Arthur reached out with one strong hand and yanked him down into the bedclothes.

"I wouldn't bet the kingdom on it," Arthur murmured, holding Merlin down and rubbing his stubbled cheek into Merlin's neck, leaving a burn there.

Merlin hiccuped a laugh and slid his palm along the contour of Arthur's skull and the nape of his neck, mussing the soft golden hair between his fingers. He waited for Arthur to speak again, but only the soft sounds of even breath met his ears, gentle warm puffs of air against his neck. Merlin wiggled his toes beneath the rumpled bedclothes and kicked them up to where he could reach, then flipped the blankets over the both of them.

He closed his eyes and drifted off, Arthur a heavy, solid weight on his chest, his mind washed clean of fear.

*~*~*~*

Merlin slept without dreaming, and awakened with the feel of Arthur’s mouth on his cock, wet and hot. The darkness was almost complete, nowhere near dawn and the fire had burned itself to bare embers, and it was easy in this perfect stillness not to speak to one another and somehow not need to.

When Arthur’s mouth slipped away Merlin reached for him, and felt him lay down close by. Merlin’s fingers encountered Arthur’s shoulder, the smooth hard curve of his back dewed with sweat, the dip and rise of his buttocks, his spread thighs. Arthur’s breath was the only sound in the room, tense exhalations into a pillow, and Merlin knew without being told.

He set his mouth to the small of Arthur’s back, tasting with slow flicks of his tongue the salt and musk of his sweat. Arthur’s long shaky breath was the only response to Merlin’s mouth sliding downwards, to his tongue sketching his intent on Arthur’s skin, his teeth scoring gentle indentations to map his way back in the dark. He teased Arthur open, got Arthur slick and trembling against his lips, and Merlin knew that the knowledge of this deeply buried heat, this burn on his tongue, would strike him later at unexpected moments, causing him to flush and remember.

When he was seated to the hilt in Arthur’s body, gripped like a vise and shaking with the intimacy of this gift he’d been given, he had a wild thought that he should just tell Arthur about his magic, here in the dark where all things were permitted. He should return the trust he’d been shown by laying himself as bare as Arthur, otherwise all this that had passed between them would die as surely as a fire untended.

But it was too quiet now, and everything was motion and sensation with no place for words, and Merlin traded fear for passion, silence for a few more minutes of bliss.

Later, collapsed across Arthur’s back, still caught inside his body, his face pressed into Arthur’s shoulder and surrounded by his own hot breath, Merlin whispered his truth. Arthur made no reply, his back rising and falling slowly underneath Merlin, and there was no light at all to confirm whether Arthur slept or was silently plotting Merlin’s doom.

At last Merlin rolled carefully away from Arthur, seeking to disturb him as little as possible and knowing that this night was over, for better or worse. He thought, bleakly, that he might just go, leave the castle entirely. Perhaps leave the kingdom. He didn’t think he could stay now, knowing Arthur as he did, and he knew that he didn’t have the courage to confess his sins twice.

The hearth had just the barest glow left in the quiet embers, Merlin could see when he pulled back the bed curtain, but there was no heat at all against his wet skin and he shivered. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and prepared himself for the shock of a cold stone floor, when Arthur’s hand closed around his wrist, warm and strong.

“Stay,” the prince whispered.

Merlin took a deep breath, his whole life hanging on that moment, and then he spoke a word and the fire in the hearth ignited in a shower of sparks, washing the room in light and warmth again.

He turned to look at Arthur, who had rolled over and was watching him quietly with no trace of reproach, as calm as still water. Merlin came when Arthur tugged on his wrist, drawing him into a careful kiss.

“Stay,” Arthur said again, so Merlin did.

*~*~*~*

The next morning Merlin answered the knock on the chamber door cautiously, still rubbing sleep from his eyes. Gaius peered through the crack in the door with an expression of greatest dread, and didn’t seem much comforted when he took in Merlin’s appearance. Merlin thought the ripped bed sheet wrapped around his hips might have had something to do with that.

“Good morning,” Merlin said innocently, blinking and trying a smile.

Gaius sighed. “You have both survived the night, I assume?”

“Oh yes,” Merlin replied, glancing back at the closed curtains with a blush. “Arthur is...wonderful.”

“I don’t need a review of the evening, Merlin,” Gaius admonished. “I just need to know if either of you require medical attention.”

Merlin glanced down at himself, fiddled with the sheet, then shrugged. “Nothing a few days rest won’t cure. Maybe a hot bath. Some liniment. You could send up some breakfast, I suppose, we’re absolutely famished. Some of those little pies.”

“You are quite the most ridiculous young man I’ve ever known, Merlin. Don’t you want to know what transpired while you were, ah, otherwise engaged?”

Merlin stared.

“The culprit who poisoned the prince? Honestly, Merlin.”

“Oh yes, naturally,” Merlin said, nodding seriously and wishing he had some strong tea to wake him up. His attention kept wandering back to Arthur and all his naked skin.

“It was, as I suspected, the Bennets.”

Merlin hazily recalled the small army of curled hair and predatory smiles aimed at Arthur the last few days while Lord and Lady Bennet were in the castle on business, and their five daughters roamed freely hunting for eligible prey.

“Which sister was it?”

“All of them,” Gaius said, looking weary.

Merlin blinked. “ _All_ of them?”

“And the mother.”

Merlin shuddered.

“They were apprehended trying to sneak into this very room last night. I’m surprised you didn’t hear the cacophony, there was quite a scene.”

Merlin chewed on a fingernail and looked at the ceiling. There was a spider spinning above the doorway, and he made a note to take care of it later. “We were very, um. Busy.”

Gaius pretended not to hear him. “At any rate, they have all been banished from the castle. You may tell the prince he has no more to fear from opportunistic females bearing love potions.”

“I guess it’s a good thing I was here, then, to protect the prince’s virtue,” Merlin said with a grin, and heard a muffled snort from behind him. Gaius looked very pained.

“Merlin, let us pretend that this whole thing never happened, and never, _ever_ speak of it again.”

“Absolutely,” Merlin agreed with a nod. “And don’t forget to send up breakfast. And liniment.”

He closed the door quickly in Gaius’ face and rushed back to bed, shedding his bed sheet as he went. He found Arthur reclining on a pile of pillows with his hands folded behind his head, the perfect picture of royal entitlement and laziness.

“All of them? Really?” Arthur looked far too smug.

“And the mother,” Merlin reminded him, climbing up and straddling Arthur’s lap without so much as a by-your-leave.

“Indeed,” Arthur said warmly, sliding his hands up Merlin’s thighs and resting his thumbs in the hollow of Merlin’s hips. Merlin shifted against him, rocking into his hands.

“Should I have left you to their insatiable whims?” Merlin asked, mostly joking.

Arthur sat up, pulling Merlin flush against his chest. He reached down to adjust his thickening cock to rest beside Merlin’s, and Merlin grinned. “I would rather have died a thousand deaths,” Arthur began, and Merlin started laughing. Arthur put a hand over Merlin’s mouth and finished, “than to have spent last night with anyone on earth instead of you.”

Merlin ducked his head to hide his face, suddenly overwhelmed with feeling. Arthur kissed his ear, his cheek, then his mouth, until Merlin was overwhelmed by different feelings altogether.

When they broke off to catch their breath several minutes later, Merlin made a helpless gesture at Arthur’s general person, and asked, “Are you still, um, burning? I thought it was supposed to be over by now.”

Arthur pressed his face to Merlin’s neck, and Merlin could feel the prince’s heart beating against his chest. “Really Merlin, I think it’s just beginning.”

~end~

**Author's Note:**

> Much thanks to my wonderful beta Alexia, who bravely waded through the porn.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] Burn - written by Shinybug](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2590604) by [orphan_account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account)




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